Edward Elric Personality Analysis PDF

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We were required to choose a person, fictional or real, and analyze their personality using one Psycho-dynamic and one non-Psycho dynamic theories we had studied in the course. I have analyzed Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood anime that came out in 2009. The theories employed to An...

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Personality Theories II

Assignment. No.3

Submitted to: Maam Rabbiyya Rasheed Submitted by: Afza Batool Registration number: FA18-BPY-002

Department of Humanities

Edward Elric Part A (Descriptive) Context of the Character Edward Elric is a fictional character from the Japanese animated series Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. The Fullmetal universe revolves around the fictional country called Amestris where caucasian people live, in the neighborhood with Ishval country which they invade and ethnically cleanse its people called ishvalans. Within this fictional universe exists the Science of alchemy, which is the destruction and reconstruction of matter; which they call transmutation, using natural energy. People who are capable of Transmutation are called alchemists; they are the most powerful people in the country and are part of the army responsible for the war in Ishval.[ CITATION Ani09 \l 1033 ] The harsh realities of war and the blurring lines of morality are the dominant ideas in the series, which greatly influences our Main character, Edward Elric who becomes a state alchemist at the age of 12; the youngest state alchemist in the country. Physical Characteristics Edward Elric is a 16-year-old Caucasian teenager with golden eyes and blonde hair that comes down to his waist which he usually puts in a braid. He is petite and

short with a below-average height of only 4ft. 11 inches. He has an arm and a leg made of automail metal. [ CITATION Ful20 \l 1033 ] Personality On the surface, Edward Elric is this 4ft.11 inches brat, who loves to throw tantrums and hasn’t learned any manners in life. He is loud, brash and cantankerous. He does not show any consideration for people’s emotions in telling the truth about their delusions they may have about their lives, their problems or their wrongdoings, because of which he is considered harsh and blunt. Foul-mouthed and aversive to authority, He is also overdramatic and gets extremely defensive; almost to the point of Napoleonic complex, when someone mentions his height, which he is very sensitive about. Moreover, he is highly aggressive with a short temper and easily gets aggravated and ready to fight. Furthermore, He also seems self-serving and pompous of his position as a state alchemist and is seen using it to his advantage most of the time, which he also does with people. But to the people who know him and who have earned his respect he is extremely compassionate and caring about; like he is with his younger brother, Alphonse Elric who he feels personally responsible for. Because he lost his mother at a very young age due to illness and later lost his one arm, one leg and the whole body of his brother (soul of whom he attached to a suit of armor) in a taboo alchemical process called human Transmutation to bring that mother back. He feels guilty towards his brother and feels like it is his responsibility to bring their bodies back to normal. This feeling also manifests itself in his compassion and sympathy for people who are going through hardships and always tries to save people.

Along with being loyal to the point of selfless recklessness, he also has a much defined moral compass. He believes in minimizing the sufferings of the people and would try to do everything to help save lives, which is why he takes part in the fight against the villain of the story called the “the Father” who wants to create the Sorcerer’s stone by sacrificing the whole country of Amestris. [ CITATION Ful20 \l 1033 ] Part B (Psychodynamic Perspective) Alfred Adler’s Theory of Individual Psychology Adler’s theory of Individual Psychology is a teleological theory that stands on several basic assumptions which I will attempt to apply to Edward Elric. The basic assumptions that I shall be touching upon will b; the inferiority complex and the subsequent strive for superiority, the parenting styles, the birth order, and the psychological types that Adler put forth. [ CITATION Jes08 \l 1033 ] Teleology The Adlerian theory has a teleological perspective according to which the person’s actions are driven by the motivations of the future rather than the past. This concept dictates that we are driven by our goals, ambitions, and visions of the future. Looking at Edward Elric, the teleological view of the Adler applies to him. Edward is driven from the very first episode towards one goal, and that was to restore his and his brother’s body back to the way it was before they performed the taboo human transmutation and lost them.

Throughout the series, Edward Elric keeps looking for ways through which they can achieve this aim. This strive takes them from place to place and puts them in a different situation and essentially drives the plot of the series. The Inferiority Complex According to Adler, every child in this world is born in this weak, fragile and dependent and these conditions create his feelings of inferiority [ CITATION Jes08 \l 1033 ]. The feelings of inferiority create the strive for superiority in the person throughout his life. In the case of Edward Elric, we see feelings of inferiority stems from both physical and emotional reasons. Seeing at the physical aspect, it is quite clear that Edward is very sensitive, almost to the point of aggression, about his height, which is quite comical in the series. An example of him being called a pipsqueak and the subsequent reaction is, “don’t call me small, I will break your feet and stick them on your head” His extreme reaction against the mentions of his height being small is the direct use of the safeguarding tendencies of Aggression proposed by Adler. As opposed to Freud’s defense

mechanisms, the safeguarding techniques are mostly conscious. As we see in Edward’s case who is aware of his aggression about his height and he persists on it. The deeper and with the more profound effect on his personality is the inferiority that comes emotionally to him, as in the story the lack of father makes their unhappy and he and his brother try hardest to keep her spirits high, usually with alchemy. But he cannot make his happy and then she dies of the illness, it stems in him the feeling of being not good enough to protect his loved ones, the feeling which just gets stronger, when the human transmutation makes him lose his brother’s body too. Edward’s feelings of inferiority, the physical aspect is rather surface level and is comical at best, it’s the emotional causes of inferiority which drives him throughout the series and makes him strive for the kind of superiority over the alchemical laws so that he will be able to restore his brother’s body. Parenting style Adler agreed with Freud on early childhood experiences and how it could affect the child in later years [ CITATION Rab19 \l 1033 ]. In this context, he has talked about two extreme parenting style which contributes to problems in later life. One is the pampering style and the other is neglecting style. According to the Adler, the best parenting style is the

balance between the two, in which the child is allowed to see the bad in the world but from a protective shelter of their parents so they can be ready to face the world, and yet have trust in themselves [ CITATION Rab19 \l 1033 ]. Considering the childhood of Edward Elric we can see that his mother Trisha Elric is a mother who quite pampers her children and tries to give them the love of both parents as their father has left them. She also refrains from telling her children that their father has left them and tries to keep them happy. Her parenting style is mostly the pampering type which results in great devastation in Edward and Alphonse when she dies and since they were sheltered so much from the evils of the world, they feel it acceptable to perform a taboo ritual to bring their mother back. At the same time, we see a discrepancy as Adler posits that the pampering style of parenting will lead to a child ill-equipped to deal with life, and may doubt their abilities to deal with life [ CITATION Rab19 \l 1033 ]. Edward’s case is quite the opposite as he learns to be quite equipped to deal with the harsh realities of war and suffering. He also shows great confidence in his abilities to deal with life and becomes a figure of inspiration and support for people that come in his life. Birth Order Adler has talked about Birth order and according to him the order in which you are born in the family greatly influences how the person will turn out. In the case of Edward, as he is the Elder of the two of them, he does fulfill the criteria of how a

firstborn turns out as he is riddled with feelings of inferiority and always tries to bring attention back to himself; he is also more responsible and tries hard to keep everyone around himself happy and safe. Part C (Non-Psychodynamic Perspective) Albert Bandura Social Learning Theory Albert Bandura’s social learning theory combines the behaviorist perspective proposed by Skinner and Watson with the earlier ideas which posited the existence of an internal process which he referred to as cognition. In this part, I shall try to apply the Social learning theory of Bandura to Edward Elric; I shall explain the triadic Reciprocal causation model, along with observational and enactive learning and will also touch upon Bandura’s ideas of Self Efficacy. Reciprocal Triadic Causation Model Instead of the deterministic view given by Skinner according to which the behavior is dependent upon the environment and that environment solely is responsible for causing the behavior, Bandura takes the stance that in addition to the environment exerting its influence on behavior, the organism also affects its environment and his behavior and all these factors interact among themselves interchangeably. [ CITATION Rob14 \l 1033 ]

This Model Also Applies to Edward Elric as we can see that his factors .i.e., his guilt and feelings of responsibility to restore his and his brother’s body, drives him. These personal factors influence his behavior as we can see that all he does is do research and travel to places to find the solution to their problem. This also functions vice versa as his behavior of looking around for solutions to their problems solidifies his resolve to restore his brother’s bodies. These two factors, in turn, influence his environment as seeing his resolve, never-ending drive; belief and great aptitude in alchemy catch the attention of Roy Mustang who helps him become a state alchemist. It also influences how he is seen as an adult who is responsible and capable of taking care of himself and solving his problems; all the adults in the series treat him as such. Even the villain of the series does not treat him as a 16-year-old teenager but rather as a rival to be careful of. His environment in which he is treated like an adult who is responsible also affects his internal factors as he also sees himself in that light. This, in turn, affects his behavior towards others and towards life in general. So in this triadic model, Edward’s internal factors, his behavior, and his environment all play a role in determining his psychological functioning and how he accomplishes his goals. Self Efficacy Bandura explains the concept of Self-efficacy as a person’s belief that they are capable of performing a particular task or not, and this belief interacts with the triadic model between person, environment and behavior and determines the course of action a person will take.

The strong Self-efficacy that Edward Elric Exhibits in the series, earns The full metal alchemist the fame it has, as it gives people hope in an unlikely situation. Edward Elric believes that he can find a way to restore their bodies to normal. Despite the hopelessness of the situation, since whoever performs human transmutation loses something valuable and its irreversible, he still believes he can find away. This efficacy is contagious too, in a way that whoever gets to know Edward in the series being in hopeless situations learns to hope and resolve. It’s because of his high Self Efficacy that he exerts influence on his environment and bends it to his ways until he finds the solution. It’s also what drives the last battle between him and the antagonist ‘father’ who wants to sacrifice the whole country and Edward cannot let him do that because he believes in those dire situations that he can restore his brother’s body and win. Observational learning According to Bandura people learn several behaviors from their environment and most of these behaviors are learned vicariously, that is they see others (a Model) performing the behavior, and they learn to imitate those behaviors.[ CITATION Jes08 \l 1033 ] In the case of Edward Elric, we can see that he has learned behaviors like being caring and taking care of his younger brother by observing his mother take care of them in childhood. He has also learned to be foulmouthed and quick-witted from

Pinako their neighbor who took them after their mother’s death, as she is always seen being rather rude. In addition to that, Edward has learned to be harsh and honest when breaking people’s delusions about life, can also be attributed to him learning it from Pinako as she is always seen as someone brutally honest and sarcastically critical of people; while he learned to get extremely aggressive and foul-mouthed from his teacher Izumi Curtis who taught them alchemy. He also learned to avoid certain behaviors as he observed his mother suffering due to hoping for their father to return until she died. He learned to not hope for their father’s return and their salvation from his hands or any other savior for that matter. He took matters into his own hand's age at the tender age of 12 and took the responsibility of himself and his brother. Enactive Learning Social learning theory proposes the idea that people can learn behaviors by thinking about and evaluating the results of those behaviors [ CITATION Jes08 \l 1033 ]. Enactive learning is the learning in which people perform behaviors, evaluate what kind of consequences entails and then decide about whether they should keep up the behavior or extinguish it. Simply put, the result of behavior will determine whether that behavior is more likely or less likely to occur in the future. Considering Edward’s case here, it’s quite clear that most of his behaviors in the series are a result of Enactive learning. Edward performs those behaviors which bring him closer to his end goal of restoring their bodies, which is why he accepted Mustang’s offer to join the army at the age of 8, it’s why he opted for Auto mail to gain mobility despite the pain and why he keeps traveling and researching to find the solution.

The ultimate consequences of all these choices and behaviors are one, the restoration of their bodies and since these things bring for his knowledge and an increase of people who can help him along that path, and they are also reinforcing which is why he sustains on these behaviors throughout his journey. Part D (Critical Analysis of the Theories) Adler’s theory of Individual Psychology Adler’s theory does a good job of explaining the personality of Edward Elric and why he behaves the way he does. The inferiority complex and strive for Superiority clearly explain his aggression towards his height as well as his never-ending drive to find a way to fix their bodies back. Theirs comes to a discrepancy in how Adler explained parenting style and how it affects the person in adult life, as we see that despite the pampering parenting style of his mother, Edward does not learn to fear the world, nor does he doubt his abilities to fix his problems, he also learns to trust the world and has hope for a better future for everyone he meets. The birth order theory applies quite satisfactorily on Edward as we see him act the way Adler predicts firstborn usually do, though we see no competition or hatred or lack of esteem in Edward due to being replaced by Alphonse in childhood. Rather we see the opposite as Edward always tries to bring his brother higher and cares about him. Bandura’s Social Learning theory Bandura’s theory applies quite nicely to Edward Elric’s case; it has given me newfound respect and understanding for the whole series. as it is clear from the behaviors of Edward and

how he deals with his problems is all part of the triadic Reciprocal causation model as he is his being influenced by his environment, so he is influencing his environment and his behaviors according to his internal states and beliefs. In addition to that, the types of learning that are observational and enactive also explain why Edward does what he does and where they stem from. To Sum it up it would say that the social learning theory by Bandura explains my character more effectively than Adler’s theory. Conclusion This assignment was a very interesting learning experience, as I realized that I would not have tried to understand theory in so much depth otherwise. Because I had to apply it to a character I was passionate about, I had to do justice to both the theories and to the character himself. Despite all, this assignment came at a very unfortunate time, as everyone is stressed about not catching the coronavirus or dying, our university pressurizes us to write papers which is not the priority at the moment. I would have liked to do this assignment in calmer conditions, but as I have learned from Bandura, if the environment can influence me so can I.

References

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Anime News Network. (2009, march 20). Retrieved April 04, 2020, from Animax Asia to Run 2009 Fullmetal Alchemist in Same Week as Japan: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-03-20/animax-asia-to-simulcastfullmetal-alchemist/brotherhood-on-tv

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Ewen, R. (2014). An Introduction to Theories of Personality. Newyork: Psychology Press 711 Third Avenue,NY.

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Feist, J. F. (2008). Theories of Personality. McGraw-Hill Education.

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Fullmetal Alchemist Wiki. (n.d.). Retrieved april 04, 2020, from FMA: Edward Elric : https://fullmetal-alchemist-database.fandom.com/wiki/Edward_Elric

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Rasheed, R. (2019). Alfred Adler. Notes ....